The Shrine Maiden
by Hana no Kamisama
Summary: Chihiro's story about the Spirit World has become a bestseller leading to her success. But the fame and money never brought her happiness, only trouble. With time, she stops believing in her own story's actuality after defending its reality for years. Traveling away from her hometown, Chihiro pays a visit to a local shrine in Maizuru. Abruptly, the forgotten world of kami returns!
1. 〜Imagination〜

**The Shrine Maiden**

**Chapter I**

**〜****Imagination****〜**

**Chihiro's story about the Spirit World has become a bestseller leading to her success. But the fame and money never brought her happiness, only trouble. With time, she stops believing in her own story's actuality after defending its reality for years. Traveling away from her hometown, Chihiro pays a visit to a local shrine in Maizuru. Abruptly, the forgotten world of kami returns.**

**Rated T to M**

**_Dedicated to Lady Librarian_ **

**By****〜****花の神様**

Running around her bedroom, Chihiro packed her belongings. Everything of importance went piled inside cardboard boxes, some things folded and some not.

Shirts, pants, underwear, and shoes.

Accessories, toiletries, and trinkets.

She packed it all.

'_Why must you leave Chihiro?'_ Her mother's choked up voice chimed in her head. A rock settled in her stomach. It was about time she left this old blue house. Her resolve was to transit to someplace far from her hometown. On her _own_! No more being sheltered under her parents' wing.

College hadn't worked out for her; she didn't want to keep trying. Everyone insisted, everyone advised her it would make her more successful. She could _**never **_write another book again! No matter how long she stared at her laptop, nothing could be sprung from her imagination.

_Imagination._

2010's bestseller, "Spirited Away" and 2012's award winning animation film by Hayao Miyazaki was written by a 16 year-old-girl named Chihiro Ogino.

It was the top grossing film in Japanese history.

It first inaugurated as a manuscript written by a 10 year-old-girl, it was horribly scribbled out. The grammar and punctuation was flawed in nearly every sentence. It was merely something for Chihiro to leisurely read.

So she would never forget her time in _that _place.

Eventually, as years passed, Chihiro came across the old manuscript. She redrafted it when she was 16-years-old, still believing. Chihiro spent countless hours with her editor when she predetermined to get it published. They helped her rephrase each sentence and enhance her vocabulary. One of the drawings she scribbled was taken by an artist and revamped professionally.

The cover of the book was a miraculous bathhouse, nothing more or less.

Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli came across her story. He absolutely loved the concept, the creatures, and the Japanese folklore within the story. Using her book and many sketches, Chihiro's bestseller became an animation film in 2012.

Chihiro was 18-years-old by then.

As more time transpired and the fans sprawled across the world even, Chihiro became famous. She went to worldwide book signings and was happy to see all the little kids that told her they _believed. _It made Chihiro's heart sing. She still believed, but the fire of belief in her heart started to waver. The adults didn't believe –it was a child's story; hence she stopped believing under the influence of her peers. It was just her juvenile imagery put into a fiction.

She defended her story, saying it was honest! Yubaba was really a witch, who owned a bathhouse for the fatigued kami. A half-man-half-spider kami constructed the herbal water which had individual aliments in them. Lin was really her friend. And Haku was really a dragon. She spent so long upholding their existence.

Until she grew weary.

Until she evoked it all fantasy.

The memories of that world naturally became blurry along with the rest of her childhood memories. Long ago she was able to envision everyone clearly, even smell the herbal water; though now she was lucky to recall the color of Yubaba's dress. She pursued to grow older as the image of that place stayed invariable, reminiscence becoming decrepit, seeming more and more as just a story she sprung up.

The money from it became overwhelming.

It was arduous to make or keep friends. Everyone ogled and awed once they found out who Chihiro was. She had been on TV more than once, on interviews and acclaimed on the news whenever Spirited Away's anniversary came up. She was a child prodigy! Many desired her friendship at school even prior to the film.

She was popular, but she was alone.

"_Chi-chan~ Come with us t'go shopping!"_

"_Chi-chan this is so cute, but I don' have any money…"_

"_Chi-chan, sorry I accidently dropped your cell phone, but you can buy another easily right?" _

Of course, Chihiro had all the money in the world to spare on little things.

She didn't have a job, she didn't need one. College was suggested to increase her writing dexterity, but she couldn't handle it. The people were suffocating, the classes tedious, all the while her editor insisted on a new novel. The document on her laptop lingered blank for quite some time now. She returned home from college and stayed with her parents for a few months.

She announced her departure only a few days ago.

She was tired of Osaka.

Where she was going, didn't really matter.

Chihiro wanted to get away, the next morning she would leave. After _they_ demolished the red clock tower and cut down the forest, nothing was left for Chihiro in Osaka but unpleasant and confusing memories. The adventure she remembered was through the red tower, but the building was crumbled. All hopes of "Spirited Away" being real perished along with the forest. Houses soon replaced what was once there.

. . .

"You're not hungry?" Yuuko asked crosswise Chihiro. Her eyes squinted with concern making her wrinkles more prominent.

Chihiro stared obscurely out the window to the neighboring vegetation adjacent their house. She left her rice bowl full and untouched. "Not really…" She mumbled wistfully.

Akio peered over the lip of his rice bowl which was shoved in front of his face. He stopped gorging his food to observe Chihiro. "You're not still strung up over that Kyo are ya_?"_ He asked inquiringly before returning to his meal.

Wide eyed, Chihiro spun her head in the direction her parents were sitting. Yuuko was looking at her worriedly while Akio was still eating. "N-No!" Chihiro blurted and reddened at the mention of Kyo's name.

He was a scandalous memory.

At first friendly.

Kyo was a nice boy she met in college, he adored her book. Someday he wanted to become a famous author and envied Chihiro for becoming one so young. Kyo was blown away when he discovered the first manuscript of "Spirited Away' was written when she was only 10.

They became acquaintances.

Then friends after a month or so.

The first semester at her college went smoothly. She was passing her classes despite their dreariness. She didn't have anything left in her to write about, it was pointless wasting her time there. The only reason she stayed was because of her closeness with Kyo.

It was the first time a guy showed true affection toward her. He didn't want her just because of the money. That's what Chihiro mused.

Kyo had a heart shaped face with shaggy black hair that matched the color of his eyes, true eye-candy. A lot of girls' wanted him, yet he gave Chihiro the most attention.

She fell for him near the end of her first year.

Soon her second year of college was at hand.

Then they went on a "date" as Chihiro signified it.

It was ok, pretty much what Chihiro expected. It was perfect until he forced himself on her. He tried to kiss Chihiro even though she said _no_. They weren't even dating and he wanted to kiss her?! That wasn't how Chihiro wanted her first kiss to play out. _Rushed and forced_. She wanted it to be special… They ended up in an argument.

After that day Kyo gave her the cold shoulder.

Forgetting the fact they were friends for almost two school years.

Chihiro made it to her second year's second semester until pronouncing she didn't want to stay. People got on her nerves, especially with the rumors Kyo spread.

"_Ogino's full of herself 'cause that book she wrote, thinks she's better n'everyone else."_

"_She has all that money n'doesn't even use it. What a waste."_

"_I heard she throws herself at all the guys. She did it t'Kyo."_

Ultimately, Chihiro overheard someone talking about her friendship with Kyo. Saying he was_ 'gonna try an sleep with her 'cause she's famous_. But Chihiro didn't want to do anything with anyone unless they were dating. They laughed at that calling her a bimbo. They also mentioned something about her money but Chihiro wasn't listening anymore.

That was the end of that.

Her heart was demoralized after being trifled with for so long.

At least he didn't take her first kiss was how Chihiro saw it.

She wasted nearly two years trying to win a guy's heart that only saw her fame and had mostly sexual intentions. It was still bumming her out, the demolished forest and theme park tower only added to her depression.

"Where do you plan on goin' from here?"

Coming back to reality, Chihiro focused on Yuuko who was talking to her. Chihiro didn't want to tell her "I don't know" and had to come up with something.

"I'll find a place near the ocean." Chihiro smiled knowing the ocean was Yuuko's weak spot.

"Ohhh~" She swooned becoming excited. "Say, would you mind if we come n'visit?" Smiling, Yuuko had a look on her face as if she was envisioning a luxurious beach house.

The corner of Chihiro's mouth rose into a half smile, "I won't mind."

Chihiro asked to be excused as the conversation continued to lull. Before she could wrap up her barely touched dinner, Akio asked if he could eat it. Chihiro gave it to him.

"We'll help you carry the boxes tomorrow." Yuuko smiled dolefully. "I'll see you in the morning dear, g'night," she bade as Akio repeated her last spoken word.

"G'night."

Thereupon, Chihiro went up to her room.

Everything looked the way it had before she left for college. The walls were painted a frosty pink with a neutral pink accenting everywhere else. The curtains, bed sheets and random decorations were all pink. It was blinding and obnoxious.

She plopped down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Her nerves were riled up for tomorrow, she was anxious. Chihiro was leaving her home to wonder Japan aimlessly. Holding no true objective or destination, she would simply…wander.

Gas wasn't a problem, hotels weren't a problem, neither was food; Chihiro had more than enough money.

After everything that's transpired as of lately, she wanted to find a place that had fresh air. Maybe someplace that was truly by the ocean as she mused to her mother moments prior. It didn't matter. As long as there were no cities, no one who recognized her. She wanted to meet someone who looked at Chihiro not for her fame and fortune but for who she was.

Tomorrow would be the day she finally left.

To live independently.

She was scared.

。。。。

Nighttime was rough.

Chihiro's riled nervous caused nothing but nightmares! Tossing and turning in her sleep which finally came, Chihiro was disturbed awake. She was covered in a cold perspiration that left her feeling icky and sticky.

A chill bloomed in her sternum, giving her goose bumps.

Rolling her eyes to look at her bedroom, it was as caliginous as ever. But the unsettling chill didn't cease and eventually left Chihiro shivering from the cold.

She was cold despite the sweat on her skin which began to dry.

The uncomfortable vibe of someone's observing eyes left her heart beating nervously.

With haste, Chihiro rolled off her bedframe and padded over to her window. She peered out the glass and wouldn't have been able to see a thing if not for the random street lamps. Her curtains were parted so she quickly gripped each one and brought them together. The window was now obscured in a lush pink fabric and the eerie vibe from earlier was gone.

Feeling restless, Chihiro went to lie back down on her bed, but sleep wouldn't come back so easily. She lay on her side and gaze at the wall, every now and then focusing on something not yet packed. Certain things she would leave behind like all her plushies and fragile glass figurines.

She mostly took the necessities.

One thing that wasn't yet rummaged through was her vanity. The door to her bedroom was reflected in the glass as she stared at the mirror. Letting curiosity get the best of her she snaked out of bed _again_ to look at the things she abandoned going to college.

There was a lot of jewelry in the drawer of her vanity, it was sprawled carelessly and tangled. The necklaces were childish, nothing she really cared about. There were a couple rings to, but Chihiro hated wearing rings. Since she didn't have her ears pierced, she never wore the ear studs still packaged either. Then she found various headbands and hairclips on one side of the drawer as if she once tried to organize the accessories. She took a handful of the hairclips and bands and lifted them out of the drawer.

A few necklaces came out too.

She stared at the wooden bottom of the drawer which was exposed. The pile she picked up was on top of the vanity along with some bottles of lotion. Chihiro however, didn't care that she was tangling everything even more. She picked up a ring that belonged to her mother. She must've carelessly strewn it in with the rest of her junk.

She sat bat on her bed and stared at the small sapphire jewel on the base of a silver band. It was pretty and petite, perfect for her. But Chihiro didn't like to wear rings, she stared at it for a while visiting memory lane. She thought about a few different birthdays when jewelry was given to her, the ring in hand included.

Suddenly feeling tired again, it was probably early in the morning by now.

Chihiro got up to put the ring back in the drawer along with the rest of the stuff. Before she grabbed the heaping pile of chains, clips and bands, Chihiro reached in the drawer and grabbed out a hair tie. It stood out to her as familiarity struck her.

'_Zeniba.'_

The word reverberated in her head like a whisper. Her brain started battling with itself. Even though it was a little dark, her eyes were adjusted. The looped string was just as she remembered it, shiny and elastic. Her friends made it for her. But she didn't believe in that anymore, she remembered her mother bought it for her. She was always buying Chihiro hair accessories.

She put the band next to her hairbrush on top of the vanity.

Packed the drawer back full of junk.

Then she went back to sleep.

。。。。

When she woke up late the next morning, it sounded like nails were clattering against the roof. Chihiro rubbed her eyes and stretched her body in ecstasy. Moaning a little, she suddenly went still in relaxation. Getting out of bed, Chihiro walked up to her window, the curtains were blocking out any light that tried getting through. When she peeled back the curtains Chihiro frowned.

It was pouring rain.

The sky was a light gray for as far as her eyes could see. Looking down to the front of her house, Chihiro watched as her car was pelted with rain. It would be a pain to move all the boxes now…

Chihiro sighed exasperatedly.

She walked over to a small pile of clothes placed out for today and changed. She went to the bathroom to go pee, wash her face, brush her teeth and return to brush her hair. Without realization, she grabbed the purple hair tie on her vanity as she brushed out the tangles. Chihiro tied back her long brown hair into a ponytail.

A knock came rapping on her door.

Yuuko's voice spoke up as the door opened, "are you hungry?" She asked with concern dripping in her tone.

Shoving some boxes toward the doorway, Chihiro looked up through her bangs. "No, not really, sorry." A mumbled reply seeped from between her lips. Chihiro went back to moving around the boxes, a total of 5.

"Oh, ok. Akio will be right up to help you with the boxes…" Yuuko paused for a moment and Chihiro sensed what she was about to say. "Are you sure you want to do this today? It's raining awfully hard."

Chihiro sighed as she straightened her poise.

Emotion filled eyes glimmered in the doorway, Chihiro stared back impassively. "I'm not changing my mind; a little rain won't hurt anyone."

Before Akio came upstairs, Chihiro threw on a daisy-yellow raincoat.

"You ready kiddo?" A strong male voice eased its way around Yuuko who sank back. She did nothing but watch as her husband and daughter went to and fro with the boxes. They both wore raincoats, sleek and brightly colored. The rain pooled of them as they entered the house for the next box. Before long, there was only one left that got packed into Chihiro's car. The backseat of her Daihatsu Siron was brimming with packages. Akio somehow made them all fit without cramming anything into the passenger seat.

"Thank you," Chihiro shouted over the rain. She followed Akio back into the house. Once inside she lowered the hood to her raincoat and hugged her parents. Yuuko's clothes were now sodden "I promise I'll visit you guys and send you pictures." What those pictures would be, she had no clue. Maybe wherever she ended up?

Sniffling back her protests and tears, Yuuko nodded her head. Chihiro said goodbye for now and put the hood to her coat back over her head. She trudged into the rain and over to the driver's side of the Daihatsu. Shivering from the cold, she lowered the hood once more and started her car.

Within seconds she was driving away from Osaka, heading north.

She headed to the prefecture above Osaka, Kyoto.

Why? There was no particular reason, she was just driving.

The entire time she drove, the rain seemed to never cease.

Despite the roaring heat of her car vents, Chihiro was shaking with cold. A strange whistling sound came from somewhere which had been irritating her since she left Osaka. The smell of rain and sodden earth leaked into her car. Just now investigating, Chihiro was too concentrated on her stereo and the slippery hills she drove on. Watching her window wipers squeak back and forth, that wasn't the sound bothering her. Then she shivered from another wave of cold and looked over to her left, at the passenger seat.

The window was just barely cracked open.

Chihiro gaped.

Quickly she reached over to the control panel on her door and held up one of four switches that directed all windows. It slid up until the whistling and cold retreated. Still shivering, Chihiro held her gaze to the road ahead.

She drove for a long time until she came near the city of Kyoto. Another city was the last place she wanted to drown her time so she took a few turns until headed north-west. She drove to somewhere, anywhere.

Where didn't matter as long as it wasn't so overly populated and deforested, like cities usually were.

She didn't want to see bustling cars or people ushering her for an autograph.

A smog filled sky once covered the land just beneath her house as they destroyed the red plastered tower and the forest. It hurt to watch it happen; there was nothing she could do. She was tired of seeing woods be destroyed, shrines for spirits being tossed away like garbage. Did they care not about the kami? All they cared about was housing more people, adding to the economy.

. . .

It felt good to clear her head, a few hours of driving seemed to breeze by. The rain had long since disappeared allowing Chihiro to crack her window. As air clean and untainted blew into her car, Chihiro smiled at the cool sensation. With the sun showing again it was starting to get a little hot. The warm air that was coming through the vents was turned off completely as she relied on the wind.

Then a sign came up which caught Chihiro's attention.

_Maizuru of Kyoto._

Is what the sign read.

Chihiro kept driving toward Maizuru, she didn't see why not. She had been driving toward the ocean for a while now; in the opposite direction of Osaka. A little curious, this place seemed covered in hills. They sloped high in the air like mountains with rivers running like a bloodstream between.

The scenery was beautiful.

Chihiro gazed in awe as nature claimed the land. The people living in this place simply built around the hills, living in houses along the road.

Despite the refreshing breeze, Chihiro was growing tired of driving. Her fingers ached from their tension on the steering wheel and body was cramping up. She looked at the signs and searched for an inn. A tingle of worry shivered through her when she thought about having to sleep in her car. But if it came to that she would pull out some clothes to keep warm.

The sun overhead was starting to set and Chihiro hadn't found somewhere to sleep.

Her eyes were straining from searching all around. A few places to eat struck her attention but she simply wasn't in the mood. Eventually she gave up and decided to pull over. The road was alongside a cliff, the only thing keeping you from driving straight off was a metal railing. A few trees were planted between the railing and the cliff side that helped block out the full intensity of the sunrays. Chihiro was grateful.

Reaching over to the passenger seat, she grabbed her purse always left in the car and turned off the engine. The Daihatsu sat on the side of the road, enough room to let others pass by. But Chihiro hadn't seen but one car pass as she drove. There must not be many people in this town. That made it all the more refreshing.

Chihiro got out of her car and remembered to lock it with all her belongings still inside.

She wasn't going to risk any of it being stolen.

Walking along the road to stretch her muscles, Chihiro followed the pavement as it turned with the cliff. The sun was shining on her from behind now as it lowered toward the trees. The road she walked had a slight upslope which was tiring Chihiro out more than helping. Before she stopped to sit against the railing, something from ahead caught her eye.

Chihiro stood gripping her purse as she stared at the tree line of the forest. Something bright stood out against the shining sun, glowing with pride. Taking a couple steps closer, Chihiro saw it was a vermillion tori gate. It towered over her as it sat perfectly vertical against the sloping road. She hadn't even noticed she was standing in front of it until her gaze landed on the stone stairs behind it.

'_A Shrine?' _Chihiro wondered.

There were countless shrine's covering Japan, and she had stumbled upon Maizuru's shrine. Whether there was more in this peaceful, beautiful city, she did not now. Chihiro gazed past the massive tori gate up the stone stairs that lead high into the mountainous hill. The stairs seemed endless, but from afar Chihiro could see their cessation. Almost beckoning her forward, she decided to pay her respects to this village's shrine. She wondered what kind of shrine it would be, was it a clan, family, or one of the many gods her religion worshipped? As she was wondering, Chihiro found herself walking up the stone stairs.

The sun's light was upon on her with the trees not close to block out the rays. All forestation was happily surrounding the tori and stairs at a decent distance.

The cicadas and birds screamed and chirped endlessly.

They were the only sounds added to Chihiro's breathing and footfalls.

She held her gaze down as she took step after step. Reaching a flat platform she walked up more stairs starting to break a sweat. She was really out of shape…

As her journey up the stairs was coming to an end, Chihiro saw trees forming ahead. She came to a halt as she stood atop the stairs on a flagstone pathway known as a sandō –approach to the shrine. Lined symmetrically along the flagstone pathway, or sandō, were dozens of tōrō. Tōrō are decorative lamps, the poles were made out of stone but the lantern itself was made from rice paper. Some of the paper in the lanterns had inventible holes.

Before she got absorbed in the rest of the shrine, Chihiro walked over to the purifying table. A pond of trickling water sat under a thatched roof. The water was being pumped endlessly to flow over a manmade rock waterfall. The water itself was blessed. Used to purify ones hands and mouth before praying.

Chihiro picked up the ladle in her right hand and scooped up some water. She poured the liquid over her left hand only to switch and do the same thing to her right. She held water in her right hand as she rinsed off her mouth. Before ridding of the ladle she tilted it vertical so the purified water ran down the handle, cleansing the wood itself for the next user.

Now she was ready to pray.

The girl walked all by her lonesome without a snitch of life anywhere in sight. She passed all the tōrō lanterns until she was faced with the Haiden. A Haiden is the hall of worship. Just behind is the Honden, which enshrines the kami usually off-limits to the public.

As Chihiro came to a still before the Haiden, she eyed a couple of statues.

Two foxes.

One fox was on each side of the dais leading to the offering box.

Peering at the left fox, it was slender, carved delicately. Under the fox's left paw was a scroll carved of stone. The fox statue to the right was larger, broader. Dangling from the carefully carved points of teeth was a key on a loop. That's when Chihiro realized these foxes were messengers or avatars. They protected a well-known Goddess or kami known as Inari-sama. She is the kami of rice.

Chihiro had never been to an Inari shrine.

She stuck her hand in an idle pocket and pulled out some loose change. It was a 5 yen.

Passing the fox statues, Chihiro walked up the few stairs leading to the dais. She dropped her coin in the coin box and clapped her hands, bowed twice, clapped twice and bowed once more. She prayed for Inari-sama to watch over her as she ventured into this town. She thanked the kami for all she has been blessed with. She stood there in silence as she continued to pray.

_Swoosh!_

A strange sound caught her ears.

_Swoosh-swoosh!_

Forcing an end to her prayer, Chihiro cringed in annoyance and opened her eyes. She looked around and saw nothing. Relaxing her tensed up shoulders, Chihiro stared down at the stone beneath her feet. She walked down from the dais and back to the flagstone pathway. She felt relaxed enough to return to her car now. A part of her was glad she prayed to Inari-sama. Like the part of her that stills believes in kami was showing for the first time in years-

Suddenly, she fell stock still in silence.

Chihiro stared at the ground feet away as she gazed into a pair of golden-yellow eyes. A small animal -the size of a grown cat- sat curiously peering at her. The fox was all white and covered from their ears to their toes in splotches of mud. It was crusted on the fox's fur as if it had been there for a while.

Chihiro was flabbergasted.

Eerie eyes remained fixed on her, sparkling with moisture.

She had never been so close to a fox before.

The bushy matted tail behind the transfixed fox swayed back and forth playfully.

A rustling from somewhere off to her side distracted Chihiro. The familiar sound that distracted her during her prayer started up again.

_Swoosh-swoosh!_

Silence.

The sound stopped just as Chihiro looked over. An older woman was staring at her with such bewilderment it was startling! Chihiro shrank back toward the Haiden. She froze when the older woman spoke up. "My, my, who is this?"

Not sure how to answer, Chihiro's head swiveled over to the dirty white fox. The animal lifted itself on lithe legs as it walked off into the forest yonder. Her attention went back to the old woman who was also watching the fox retreat.

"Don't mind her," old lady said cheerfully. "She comes and goes."

"O...Oh," was the only thing Chihiro could muster in response.

The elder looked off to the offering box Chihiro was just praying at. She smiled endearingly while squeezing the broom haft in her hands.

"We haven't had a visitor at this run down shrine for quite a while." Then the lady's gaze landed upon her. "Especially such young folk like you!"

Chihiro blushed.

"Tell me dear, what brings you here to Inari-sama's shrine?"

Still surprised by the old lady's sudden appearance, Chihiro calmed her raging heartbeat. "I…" She began slowly. "I came from Osaka. I'm traveling."

That seemed to enlighten the old woman's face. "Osaka," she repeated in wonder. "Such a bustling city! Why, if I may ask, did you choose Maizuru for your travels?"

There wasn't a definite answer to that question. Chihiro didn't really have one. In all honesty she gave her reasoning. "I was heading for the ocean, far from Osaka. I came across this place and wanted a better look."

A troubling expression overtook the old woman's wrinkled face. A city girl that wanted to get away from the city, but how long could she live without the cities perks?

Then the sky rumbled overhead.

It interrupted their conversation.

"Oh dear, it seems a storm is on its way." The old woman looked up at the sky with furrowed brows.

Panic struck Chihiro, she still had nowhere besides her car to sleep.

Her stomach was audibly growling too, she held it as if that would calm the hunger.

A laugh bubbled out from the old woman. Chihiro looked over with her already pink cheeks shading darker.

"It seems you're hungry," the woman smiled.

Chihiro looked away, embarrassed.

"Please allow me to show you some hospitality. You're welcome to stay at my inn."

Like a bursting light bulb, Chihiro lit up. "You own an inn?!" She was utterly enthusiastic at her luck.

The old woman rose a wrinkled hand from the broom and pointed toward the forest. "There is a trail not far from here that leads to the inn. If you drive further up the road there is a proper entrance."

Chihiro remembered her car. "Is it alright if I meet you there? My car is down the road a bit." She gestured toward the tori gate.

"That is fine," the old woman smiled.

Before Chihiro walked away she looked worriedly over at the elder. "Are you sure I can't offer you a ride? I can drive you there."

The elder seemed to shine from Chihiro's consideration. "Oh ho ho, don't you worry about me, I will be just fine."

With apprehension, Chihiro left the old woman to wander back up the hill to the inn. She really wanted to give her a ride but wasn't going to force her. Chihiro shifted the purse dangling under her armpit and walked down the stairs to the tori gate. She bowed her head as she passed through. Before she made it to the stone stairs she could have sworn something white breezed by in the foliage. But nothing was there.

Scurrying back to her car Chihiro flopped inside and threw her purse into the passenger seat. With a roar the engine started and she drove up the winding road along the cliff side until she saw a couple signs advertising the inn. If only she had driven a little further before she stopped in the first place… But it didn't matter anymore because she got to see a fox and meet the inn owner more personally.

A few rain drops landed on her windshield. She braced herself for another storm and a humid night.

It was if the rainstorm from Osaka followed her all the way here.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>

**Kami – A divine being in the Shinto religion. A god or spirit.**


	2. 〜Secrets〜

**Chapter II**

**〜****Secrets****〜**

**Author's Note: **

**Miko****- Miko is another term for Shrine Maiden. Miko translates – child of the Gods. **

**Originally, miko were powerful priestesses with magical powers. Able to ****confer**** and ****speak**** for the Gods. ****Exorcised**** evil possessing spirits and ****laid them to rest****.**

**For example****: Kikyo and Kagome from Inuyasha.**

**Miko have lost much of their power, history and influence compared to the past.**

**As you will read later in my story, Chihiro showed many ways of being a ****miko**** in Spirited Away. (Without using magic of course)**

* * *

><p>From overhead, it sounded like a tin of nuts, bolts and nails were being dumped over the entire inn.<p>

Sitting by herself in an authentic traditional Japanese hostel, Chihiro sat at the head of an elongated table. Her shins were politely tucked under her bottom as she sank into the plump cushion beneath her. She was fairly taken aback by the inn… It was not what she expected. Or was it?

There were countless shackles absent from the roof of the two story hostel. It was a relatively extensive inn mostly in width. The tan plaster on the walls splintered away to white. Sliding doors all throughout had apertures in the paper. The pair of sliders adjoining the dining room to the back patio was abreast Chihiro. One shoji was ajar and stuck in place; the inn was being constantly exposed to the backyard.

This place was falling apart.

"Please pardon the horrible condition of my inn." A voice unanticipatedly emanated from behind. "I haven't had customers in quite a while." The elderly woman from before relinquished a tray of food on the table; she bestowed Chihiro a hefty bowl of rice topped with mixed vegetables and chunks of chicken. Accompanying her dinner was a cup of steaming tea settled crosswise Chihiro, it had a delectable aroma. A pair of porcelain chopsticks was then offered so Chihiro could commence in eating her meal.

"Thank you," Chihiro paused. "Itadakimasu," she announced before picking up her chopsticks.

The old woman chuckled while upcasting the back of her hand to overlay her mouth. Chihiro was too engrossed in her eating to question what was funny.

"You have such good manners, it is refreshing." Before Chihiro had the opportunity to speak the elder continued. "I believe I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Miss Okawa, and welcome to Yama Ryokan."

Miss Okawa's smile was contagious because Chihiro found herself smiling too. "My name is Chihiro Ogino," she bowed her head.

The wrinkled old woman's face lit up like a revelation. "_The _Chihiro Ogino?"

Looking up from her bow, Chihiro was a little confounded. She didn't think anyone here especially an old woman in the country would recognize her name.

"You are the author of _Spirited Away_." It wasn't a question.

Averting her gaze for a split second, Chihiro looked back to Miss Okawa. "Yes I am."

"Oh how delightful!" Miss Okawa sang. "I never thought I would meet you, yet here we are!"

The look on Chihiro's face read she wasn't very content about their conversation. Miss Okawa sensed the mood and stopped fussing about her reputation.

"Since you are my only customer you are welcome to anything in the inn. I'll take you to your bedroom after I show you around." Miss Okawa changed the subject and smiled down to Chihiro who started eating her dinner again.

"Thank you for being so kind, but if I may ask, how much is my stay here?" Not looking up she was preoccupied with some rice that kept falling through her chopsticks.

Finally she pinned a clump between the sticks and lifted to her mouth.

"Oh don't worry Miss Ogino; your stay will be free of charge."

The rice fell from her chopsticks.

Chihiro looked up completely flabbergasted.

"Eh, b-but why?" It didn't make since, the inn definitely needed all the money it could make. Chihiro didn't know how Miss Okawa was even surviving out here with so scanty customers to make profit from. "Please, let me pay for my stay. It doesn't-"

"Oh no, no, I won't have that. Not from you Miss Ogino." The woman raised her hands and shook her head. "I'll come back for you and show you around the inn, enjoy your meal."

Miss Okawa stepped from the room.

Chihiro stared after her until all alone. She didn't know what to think. Why wouldn't Miss Okawa let her pay? How was she affording simple necessities such as groceries?

This whole situation was perplexing.

Chihiro finished her dinner before it turned cold.

Waiting for Miss Okawa, the woman still hadn't reappeared. Chihiro kept waiting and waiting and waiting. Her legs were numb and tingly by time she finally got up. She was worried something must have happened.

Chihiro stalked over to the hall. The sliding door was already open so she peered left then right to a dead end. There wasn't a sign of life anywhere in the entire inn.

'_Where is the staff?' _Chihiro wondered. Then a realization occurred if Miss Okawa could even afford staff.

"Um… Hello," she called out lamely.  
>No response.<p>

Vacating the dining room, Chihiro scrambled back to the table and grabbed her dirty dishes. She wasn't sure what to do with them but didn't want to leave them there. It didn't seem Miss Okawa was coming back to retrieve the tray.

_"Jus' leave em'."_

Almost like an echo, a female voice reverberated from somewhere around her.

Chihiro squealed and dropped the bowl! It shattered on the floor.

"Oh dear," Miss Okawa said from behind.

Squealing again, Chihiro spun around with a thumping heart.

"M-Miss Okawa, was that you?" Chihiro looked at the elderly woman as if she'd seen a ghost.

In return she received a dubious stare. "What do you mean?"

Chihiro didn't know. Someone that wasn't Miss Okawa just spoke to her but there wasn't anyone else there. "I heard a voice."

For a second Miss Okawa looked contemplating, but she smiled worry free nonetheless. "I'm sure it was just the wind."

Chihiro shifted her weight.

"Watch yourself dear; don't want to get hurt."

Chihiro seemed to just now realize she broke the dish. "Agh! I'm so sorry!" Scrambling to the floor, Chihiro went to pick up the broken pieces of ceramic.

"No need for that Miss Ogino, it will be cleaned." Looking up at Miss Okawa, she was holding out her hand. "Come, I will show you the inn now."

Hesitantly, Chihiro took Miss Okawa's hand and rose to her feet. They left the dining room but Chihiro stared out the broken sliding door before it was completely out of sight. It was still raining mercilessly; she searched for something, _anything, _to show she wasn't crazy and hearing things.

Nothing abnormal was amongst the garden and trees.

. . .

Chihiro was shown every room in the lower level.

The inn was much grander than it appeared from the front. The hostel was shaped like the kanji for mountain, 山 yama. The far right side were the guest rooms with greater ones just above in the upstairs. The middle section of the inn is where the entrance, kitchen, lounge and dining room are all connected in that order.

As for the far left side, Chihiro was just being exposed to.

She was amazed to find a huge communal bath in pristine shape! The bath was the shape of a long rectangle, about 3 stairs downcasted into the water. On the far end was a manmade rock waterfall like the one at the Inari shrine where water was continuously being pumped through. Just before the big bath, there was a lot of little private baths and showers. The communal tub was at the end of the bath wing.

Despite some estate damage, the whole inn was unblemished.

How in the world was a little old woman doing this all by herself?!

"Um…" After Miss Okawa had been talking for ages about the inn, Chihiro spoke up. "Miss Okawa, are you the only one here?"

They were leaving the bath wing and headed for Chihiro's room. The stairs leading to the upper level were right by the entrance crosswise the check-in counter. "No, I am not the only one here." Miss Okawa looked her way. "I may get no customers, but I often get visitors." She smiled and headed up the stairwell using the railing for support.

Her answer didn't exactly solve Chihiro's wonder on how this place kept so clean.

Nonetheless, she welcomed all the generosity.

"You may stay here as long as you like." Miss Okawa gestured her arm to the farthest room down the upstairs of the right wing. The guest room where she would be staying.

Chihiro was astonished to be privileged with such an extravagant room free of charge. It felt wrong.

"Please," Chihiro blurted. "I can't stay here unless I pay my worth."

Miss Okawa frowned, very displeased.

"Young Miss, I have no need for your money." Chihiro shrank back as she listened to Miss Okawa. "This inn will not survive much longer, the winters are harsh. I also do not know how much longer the kami will allow me to live. Taking your money is of no relevance to me now. All that I can ask is that you accept my hospitality."

Chihiro pursed her lips shut in reflection.

"Alright…" Chihiro hesitantly agreed. "But if you need any help please ask me, I don't wanna' be a bother." Chihiro bowed and rejoiced her thanks to Miss Okawa.

The old woman was smiling buoyantly with joy. She wished Chihiro a goodnight's sleep and left.

All alone in the guest room, Chihiro turned to face the window on the opposite wall. From inside her room, she could see the tree line of the forest. The inn sat atop a hill and from Chihiro's view she could see the ground as it sloped downward. The hill descended just beyond the inn's yard. On the bottom of said hill was the shrine, Miss Okawa was right. The trail she mentioned was visible from her window.

_BOOM!_

Startled out of her skin, Chihiro flinched as thunder clashed directly overhead. Her heart was beating rapidly from the sudden scare. Followed by the thunder was bright flash of light.

The whole inn seemed to shudder from the storm.

There were no curtains covering her window, she would have to be careful of that.

Chihiro looked over at a plump white futon; it lied in an isolated corner. An oil lamp was placed just beside the futon with there being no electric lights in her room, along with most of the inn.

For a city person this inn would be immensely inconvenient.

The old fashioned inn didn't bother Chihiro that much though.

She wasn't constantly being bothered by her laptop and cell phone.

The furniture in the room was a table consisting of 2 sogun chairs, a Kobe Balinese nightstand with a matching Kobe Balinese dresser. One last thing in a corner was an armoire cabinet. As for decorations, skinny bamboo sprouted from a couple pots placed in random. The floor itself was made of tatami mats. As for the door, it was a traditional fusuma sliding door. The pattern was a beautiful monochromatic design of a hillside landscape. Each bedroom fusuma had a different pattern on it.

All of Chihiro's stuff was still in her car.

She wasn't sure how long she would be staying here, but getting some clothes out seemed like a good idea.

Then Chihiro stripped of her raincoat.

It was almost nightfall; the sun was still hovering over the horizon. Chihiro having left her purse in her car like always plopped down on the cleaned futon worry free. It was mushy like a brand new cushion, Chihiro rolled around like a playful dog.

Eventually, she fell asleep in a sprawled out position.

. . .

When Chihiro woke, she was covered in a discomforting perspiration. She slept with too much clothes on and sweated from under a blanket.

Now she _had _to go out to her car.

It was officially dark outside.

The cicadas were up late and screaming that constant sound of theirs. Reminding Chihiro it was almost summertime.

Making her way through the inn, Chihiro was surprised by the utter silence of Yama Ryokan. She and Miss Okawa were really the only ones.

Without a sound, she found herself _trying _not to make a sound. She left through the main entrance's shoji sliding door and welcomed the chilly outside air.

The rain had subdued to a light sprinkle.

Rushing over to her car, Chihiro opened the passenger door. She grabbed her purse and slid the straps over her shoulder. Going to the backseat door, she quietly shut the passenger one. Chihiro remembered which box had her clothes in it and struggled to grasp it. Akio had shoved all the boxes in her car like a Jinga puzzle! Once she managed to get the box free she stumbled back and watched the others fall out of place.

Grimacing, Chihiro used her hip to close the car door. With the box in hand and purse over her shoulder, Chihiro walked back inside the inn. Careful not to collide into any walls, she managed up the stairs and luckily left her guestroom door slid open. With a delicate drop, she let her purse and box smack against the tatami mat. Ripping the tape, she grabbed out some clothes that were on top. Folding some basics into a pile, she hugged them in her arms.

Heading to the left wing, she searched for the communal bath. Before going into the bath itself, Chihiro went into the woman's room. She stripped of her clothes and put them in a shelf. Walking over to another shelf, she found a towel and wrapped it around her nude body.

The steam welcomed her.

Instantly she was warmed once inside the big bath room. It almost felt like she was in a sauna, but it wasn't _that _hot. The only sound in the room was the trickling waterfall on the far wall. Other than that, it was quiet and peaceful.

Not sure how long she had been relaxing, it felt like an eon. Eventually Chihiro was a prune. Honestly, she would have stayed longer if she didn't feel uncomfortable like someone was watching her. Shivering from the unpleasant tinge, Chihiro stepped out of the tub and over to her towel. She draped the cloth around her body and went back to the lady's room.

. . .

"It sure is raining a lot…"

Murmured voices sounded from somewhere. It startled Chihiro who had just left the woman's changing room. She was standing in the hall. Trying to figure out where it came from. She looked around clueless.

"It's rainin' 'cause o' _him_, he followed t'girl 'ere."

Cause of who? The voices were coming from outside the bath wing wall. It took Chihiro a second to realize that it was coming from the middle wing of the inn. She was able to hear them perfectly through the wall!

"Be quiet before you wake the human. There are no secrets kept from between these walls."

That time it was a male voice. Chihiro's heart skipped a beat from surprise. Who was talking? What were they talking about? From the spot Chihiro was standing in in the left wing, she was closest to the dining hall. The people talking were probably on the back patio.

"Ney, Baachan. Wha' i' she becomes t'new miko? Ya be getting' t'old t'-"

"Nao! Watch your tongue in front of Misao." The boy was scolding the girl from the sound of it.

"M'sorry. Aye was jus' lookin' out for Baachan. Said she believes n'kami so aye was jus' thinkin' i' be nice t'have a helpin' hand."

"It is quite alright dear; after all you are not wrong." Chihiro knew who that voice belonged to, it was Miss Okawa.

"Misao…" The boy was interrupted. Was Misao Miss Okawa's first name?

"I am becoming too old to ward off the yōkai. This town is covered in holes which the Spirit World leaks through. On top of that, the shrine is becoming a hassle to take care of along with this crumbling inn."

It sounded like Miss Okawa truly did have her hands full…but, she mentioned something about yōkai?

"Rely on us more!"

"Thas' right Baachan!"

Whoever Miss Okawa was talking to, they didn't sound happy.

"And who will take care of you two when I pass?"

Silence.

A pit in Chihiro's stomach told her it was wrong to eavesdrop like this, but she couldn't help herself.

"Don' talk like tha'."

The accented girl's voice was the one to break the silence.

"I would love to have an apprentice miko, but I would never force such responsibility onto anyone. Especially that young writer; she denies the existence of kami, but part of her still believes. She wrote about it in her book; she doesn't realize it, but she used the power of a miko while in the Spirit World. She holds great potential. As you said Naoko, one of her friends followed her here. I'm sure with time she will have to believe agai-

Chihiro took a step back.

The floor creaked in disapproval to her shifted weight.

Her heart skipped a beat in anticipation.

"Ah o'."

The voices stopped.

Hugging her dirty clothes to her chest, Chihiro ran through the halls until she found the stairwell. Without looking back she darted upstairs before someone came looking for her. No one did.

Chihiro's breath was ragged and uneven. She felt so guilty eavesdropping but she didn't expect for Miss Okawa to have visitors at this hour. Whatever she was talking about, Chihiro didn't understand any of it. Eventually she laid back down on the futon, but it took a while for her to get sleepy again. From inside her purse, Chihiro could hear her phone vibrating. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone and rolled over toward the wall.

Covering herself in the blanket, Chihiro fell asleep.

。。。。

The next morning, Chihiro woke to the smell of food. It smelled like… eggs. "Mmmph," groaning from the brilliance, Chihiro squinted her eyes at the window. It looked like the rain had finally stopped.

Wobbly, Chihiro propped herself up with her arms. She sat hunched over and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. How early was it?

Not bothering to change her clothes, Chihiro stood from the futon. She didn't sweat while she slept this time, so luckily she didn't stink. Her clothes were still freshly clean and a little wrinkled.

Chihiro dug through her purse and fished out some toiletries.

Stepping out into the hall, she walked past 3 other empty guest rooms. On her way, Chihiro noticed that both outer wing hallways were on the side of the wall facing the middle wing. Whether bathing or in her room, Chihiro probably would have heard Miss Okawa's conversation yesterday either way.

Distracted from the memory, she found the restroom by the lower guest rooms. Once there, she peed, washed her hands, face and brushed her teeth and hair. Cleaning up whatever mess she made by the sink, Chihiro opened a cabinet and disposed her toiletries inside. Hopefully Miss Okawa wouldn't mind.

Now refreshed and ready to acknowledge a new day, Chihiro headed down the middle wing. The first room she came upon was the kitchen. Instantly, Chihiro was greeted by a languid smile.

"Good morning, Miss Ogino." Miss Okawa was stationed at the stove; pouring rice into a massive pot. Chihiro gaped at how much she was making… "Are you hungry?"

Looking up, Chihiro nodded her head. "…Yea, if you don't mind."

Miss Okawa laughed. "Not at all dear." She put a lid on the rice and tended to her solidifying eggs. "Go ahead and wait in the dining room, breakfast will be right there."

Chihiro continued to gape and nodded her head once. There was no shoji blocking off the kitchen to the hallway, it was just an open room. Walking down the hall stretching through the middle wing, Chihiro made it to the dining room. It was at the stub of the hall, posterior the lounge room. Chihiro didn't really know what else to call it, maybe a study?

Instantly, she shivered from the cold. The sliding door leading to the back patio was stuck open. Walking over to the shoji, the chilly morning air from outside was blowing inside. Chihiro looked out at the cascading landscape, rising and lowering like a wavering flag. Miss Okawa's yard however, was relatively flat. She took advantage of that and had the entire backyard turned into a garden! A rice patty field took up one side while another garden took up the other. It looked like she grew all kinds of things in the other garden.

How did Miss Okawa handle all of this on her own?

Footfalls echoed in the hall.

Chihiro scrambled to the table and sat on a random plush cushion. Looking to the cushions next to her, some were covered in fur, _white _fur. "What?" She mumbled under her breath in turmoil.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Miss Okawa entered the room, tray in hand.

"Here we are," she announced. Miss Okawa set the tray on the table and grabbed the two cups of tea. One was placed in front of Chihiro and the other in front of Miss Okawa. Then the elder presented to Chihiro her food. A bowl of eggs and a side of rice.

Itadakimasu," Chihiro grabbed the chopsticks Miss Okawa pushed her way and began eating. Halfway through her eggs, she looked up and saw that Miss Okawa was only drinking tea, nothing else. "You're not eating?"

Wrinkled eyes shifted to look up at her. "I will eat later, please enjoy your meal."

Chihiro pursed her lips shut and gazed at her food. Finishing her eggs and going for the rice, Chihiro bet it was from the garden. Grabbing her cup of tea, Chihiro brought it to her lips and peered up at Miss Okawa. She was looking down at the table, occasionally taking a sip of her tea. The only reason she seemed to be in the dining room at all was to keep Chihiro company.

"Um…" Chihiro lamely got Miss Okawa's attention. She couldn't hold herself back anymore, she was too curious. The old woman blinked and looked at Chihiro. Swallowing first, Chihiro began. "Did you um…have some visitors last night?"

Miss Okawa didn't seem fazed by her question, she looked calm as ever. "Yes I did," she said with a smile. Chihiro was surprised by her honesty.

"Oh…" She half expected it to be a little harder to get any information. "When I got out of the bath last night I heard you talking to someone so I was just wondering."

The old woman smiled. Chihiro was a little nervous. "They come here quite often; maybe you'll get to meet them." Miss Okawa set down her tea. "Are you finished dear?"

Blinking, Chihiro realized Miss Okawa was waiting for an answer. "Oh, y-yea I'm finished, thank you." She was staring at the clean tatami mat where she had broken her bowl from yesterday.

All the dirty dishes were placed back on the tray; Miss Okawa then went to leave the dining room. "Are you going to look around town today?" She called from over her shoulder.

Chihiro hurriedly got up and walked behind Miss Okawa. "Yea, I think I'll have a look around today. This place is beautiful."

The old woman laughed.

"That is true, maybe that's why I haven't left in all my 70 years."

_70 years?! _Chihiro was blown away; Miss Okawa was truly an old woman. She hadn't lived anywhere else other than Maizuru her whole life! Chihiro would never be able to do that, especially in a place like Osaka.

"Amazing," Chihiro mumbled to herself.

Miss Okawa laughed again.

"You are truly a breath of fresh air dear." The tray was set next to the sink. Miss Okawa turned her attention to Chihiro. "How long will you be staying in Maizuru?"

Chihiro hadn't thought of that. As of right now, she was living toll free in an old woman's inn. She was even being fed for free! Miss Okawa is really kind to do that. "I…" Chihiro didn't know where to start with her excuse. "I haven't thought that far ahead… yet."

For some reason, Miss Okawa didn't look surprised. "If that is the case, you are welcome to stay here for as long as you like."

Instantly, Chihiro's eyes bugged. "I-I can't stay here for so long without paying!" Chihiro waved her hands and shook her head.

"Such an honest girl," Miss Okawa wasn't looking at her. "If you insist on paying, then how about doing a few favors for me instead?"

Chihiro liked that idea, Miss Okawa needed the help.

"Sure, I can do that."

Pulling out a piece of paper, Miss Okawa scratched away with a pen. Every few words she would stop to look at something in the pantry. "Ah, here we go." She handed Chihiro a list full of grocery items. "Take this as well," Miss Okawa dug in her pocket, pulling out a white pouch that jingled perpetually. Chihiro realized it was money.

"No!" She almost yelled, startling Miss Okawa. "I-I'm sorry, it's just… I can pay for these, it's no problem really." Chihiro furrowed her brow with angst at Miss Okawa's contemplating face.

"That's very kind of you." Going back to her usual smile, Miss Okawa put her pouch back into her pocket.

Chihiro just needed to go upstairs and change into something more appropriate, and then she would leave for the store. "Oh um… Miss Okawa?" Looking over her shoulder, Chihiro got the old woman's attention. "Which way from here is the store?"

The old woman smiled.

"That way," she lifted her right arm and pointed in the same direction. "Just keep following the road going away from the inn, the town is there. Signs wills help lead you."

Chihiro bowed her head and said her thanks. At least grocery shopping would be a nice way to see the town and some locals. Heading upstairs, Chihiro put the list in her purse and changed her clothes. Now she was ready to leave.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

**Yōkai- Supernatural creatures. They hate electricity, it scares them away. That's why they are practically extinct today. In Maizuru there is little electricity due to the wide open lands, besides the town where it is populated. At Miss Okawa's inn, she barely uses electricity because she can't afford it. Hence there is yōkai in Maizuru. **


	3. 〜Trickster〜

**Chapter III**

**〜****Trickster****〜**

The wind rushed past her face, sending her hair tendrils flying in all directions. It felt stupendous. In that same moment, Chihiro had to figure out where she misplaced her hair tie… She fell asleep wearing one and woke up without it. Eventually she shrugged and stopped caring.

It was only a hair tie…

Chihiro had her front windows rolled down and her stereo playing obstreperously. Despite the speed limit, she sped along the winding cliff side road. When the first sign appeared listing all the forthcoming attractions, Chihiro slowed down a bit. She leaned closer to the steering wheel and tried peering over the dashboard to see more precisely.

There wasn't anything peculiar ahead, only more road.

Relaxing in her seat, Chihiro wondered just how isolated Miss Okawa's inn was from the rest of Maizuru. She really did live in the country. Then Chihiro wondered how Miss Okawa got to town for things like grocery shopping… There was absolutely no way that old woman walked! She also didn't have a car it seemed.

Maybe her visitors helped?

But who knows.

Some more signs came drifting past her car. They listed some random restaurants and stores in the town, along with a couple of gas stations. One thing Chihiro noticed was the inadequacy of hotels; Miss Okawa's seemed to be the only one. She was located nowhere near the town, no wonder she never obtained any customers. Not a lone placard cited her inn. With the hostel's prevailing condition, Chihiro wasn't sure how many people would choose to stay there anyways…

Turning down her stereo, an annoying song came on.

Eventually she turned it off.

Masking in the peace of Maizuru, Chihiro considered the landscape once the road merged away from the cliff. Now she was driving through the countryside where the hills subsided into the distance. Everything was so green and prosperous. This place was practically the opposite of Osaka. Everywhere you looked in Osaka; there were complexes and establishments, crammed next to each other with no room to breathe.

Chihiro still couldn't get over the bleeding forest that was once below her blue home. The community destroyed it. The little kami shrines, the huge oak tree, the red plastered tower, they just destroyed it all. Chihiro couldn't believe it; she whined and complained during the entire process. She went so far as to rush down and yell at the workers who were doing it, demanding they stop! Chihiro was immediately restrained by her parents. In the end, there was nothing she could do.

That all happened when Chihiro initiated high school. That's how long the forest had been gone. The destruction of everything she relished from her childhood adventure is one of many reasons Chihiro published her book. Even if she wanted to endeavor going back to the Spirit World, she wouldn't have been able to with the tower destroyed.

In fact, Chihiro tried more than once to return.

A couple months after she came back to the Human World, curiosity got the better of her. She went back into the tunnel, it was just as she remembered, but the red plaster had long worn away to stone. There was barely any red left.

On the other side of the tunnel and station, was nothing but more trees. The forest was the only thing there.

Chihiro couldn't go back to that world.

After trying every now and then to return, just to see if she could. It never worked. Eventually, Chihiro gave up.

She gave up trying to see if the Spirit World was still there. The realization that it would never be there led to Chihiro's disbelieve in the world itself. Chihiro made up all those people and everything that happened when she was 10; it was nightmare she had on the way to her new house. Chihiro didn't want to move, she was so upset that her emotions fueled that terrible nightmare of the Spirit World. But the dream haunted her, haunted her to where it became a book by her hand. A bestseller that turned into a movie.

Chihiro watched that movie only once.

For some reason, she cried. Apart of her was sad; the part of Chihiro that still believed it wasn't just a dream. It was real, the words always seemed to echo in her head…but Chihiro never listened. It wasn't real. It's nothing but a story out of a child's imagination!

Chihiro clenched the steering wheel.

Her eyes burned into the distance until they averted from the road, to the woodland.

Looking at the trees far from the road, Chihiro felt something eerie.

She gazed into the forest and loosened her clenched fists.

'_What is that?' _Chihiro asked herself.

Squinting her eyes, Chihiro leaned to the right, to the window next to her for a better look. Her car was about to drive beyond whatever she was staring at, but before that happened, Chihiro gasped.

There was someone standing in the forest's tree line, staring at her! She saw nothing but their contour-

_OOOOOoooonk!_

"_YAAH!"_

Screaming, Chihiro swerved back to her side of the road. Her heart was thumping and body shaking from almost getting into an accident. The person driving in the oncoming lane honked their horn some more and gave her a dirty look.

Chihiro shrank back.

That was close.

Taking a deep breath, Chihiro tried to calm her nerves. For a starter, she kept her eyes _on _the road. Second, she stopped sulking about her past.

What was gone was lost forever; it was time to move on.

Despite just telling herself to move on, she felt a wave of remorse stride through her. She felt pressure swelling from behind her eyes. The part of her that believed was resisting forgetting.

Just like that, Chihiro turned her stereo back on.

The wonderful sunlight suddenly vanished. Frowning, Chihiro looked out her window to see a huge cumulonimbus cloud covering the sun.

Chihiro sighed.

Until she arrived at the town, she let the music keep her from thinking.

Pretty soon, civilization flooded the town of Maizuru. Flooded was probably an exaggeration. But nonetheless, there was something other than country and road. Leaning into the steering wheel, Chihiro eyed the town, looking for a grocery store. It was a little run down, but not as bad as the inn.

Distracting herself looking at all the shanty buildings, Chihiro nearly passed the store! Her tires screeched to a halt just in time to turn into the lot. At least it was a store she recognized called, Seiyu.

Being one of the only cars in the parking lot, Chihiro parked and grabbed her purse. Leaving her car unlocked like always, she never remembered to lock it.

The eerie feeling from before returned.

But something was different, it was more of an uncomfortable feeling. She felt like she was the only one standing in a ghost town. There was absolutely no one else around.

Chihiro felt hidden eyes on her.

Like she was being watched.

Ignoring the vibe, she walked up to the store and went inside. The moment she entered, Chihiro got a look at a local. A tan woman –all by her lonesome– stood at the cash register reading a magazine.

Dark eyes shifted to look up at her, the woman's face remained stoic. _Unpleasant._

"Hello," Chihiro put on her best manners and slightly bowed her head in respect. She walked past the woman whose gaze fixated on her the entire walk past the register.

She didn't even greet Chihiro.

This place was definitely outlandish.

Chihiro walked through the aisles; she wasn't surprised by the lack of merchandise. There was barely anyone around to buy from the store. Pulling the list out of her purse, Chihiro read over what to buy.

One Package of powdered anpan sweet rolls, meat and poultry, various vegetables, a bottle of Koikuchi Soy Sauce, a 10 lb. bag of white rice along with many more random ingredients.

How did Miss Okawa use all these things before they spoiled?

Why did she need rice and vegetables when she had the gardens behind her house?

Nothing made any sense; it was going to give Chihiro a headache trying to figure it all out…

Rubbing her temple, Chihiro caught a glimpse of someone in the corner of her eye. Jolting her head in their direction, whatever or whoever it was was gone now.

Was she really being watched?

It was making her feel _very _unwelcome.

Getting the rest of the grocery items, Chihiro was ready to cash out. All throughout the store there wasn't a sign of life, not even a rodent. The people who worked here kept it clean, but Chihiro had only seen one worker.

Speaking of that one worker, Chihiro walked up to her. Holding her handheld store basket full of grocery items, Chihiro placed them on the counter. Chihiro wanted to say something, _anything_, but the clerk held her gaze down.

She was very unfriendly.

Shunting her eyes away as all the items were being scanned, Chihiro looked out the storefront windows. From here Chihiro could see her car, just as she left it.

She continued to stare.

At the houses nearby that were seemingly abandoned but not.

If she had looked away, Chihiro would have never witnessed someone standing by the houses.

Without contorting her face, Chihiro squinted her eyes. She couldn't make out a single detail, not from this distance. But the posture of the figure resembled the one she saw on her way to the store, in the forest.

"You're not from around here?"

Chihiro looked away from the stranger's silhouette and stared at the cashier. The woman was staring at her, for how long Chihiro didn't know.

"I'm traveling." Chihiro responded matter-of-factly.

The clerk stopped looking at her. She finished scanning the last of the groceries. There was enough to fill two bags, perfect for Chihiro to carry. "So you're staying at the inn?"

Chihiro wasn't expecting something like that. "Yes, I am. Why do you ask?"

The tanned woman had a tired look on her face. She glared up at Chihiro through her eyelashes, very seriously. "That place is haunted."

Chihiro was speechless.

The cashier told her the amount due and Chihiro gave the woman one of her many cards. Chihiro never said anything back. While the clerk swiped her card, she pulled out her cellphone from her purse. It read 17 new messages. Chihiro sighed, not in the mood to talk to her parents or anyone. She put her phone in her jean pocket.

"Have a nice day."

The cashier went back to reading her magazine. Chihiro gathered her groceries in both arms and walked for the exit, not saying a word. Using her hip, she pushed the door open. The cloud that was covering the sky had passed; the sun was in full blaze.

The heat smacked her in the face.

Dragging herself back over to her car, Chihiro put the bags in her passenger seat. With haste, she got inside her car and started it. She wanted to leave this part of town. It was eerie, desolate, and unwelcoming.

There had to be more to Maizuru than this.

Something wasn't right.

The locals were strange; they thought Chihiro didn't notice.

But she did.

They were hiding.

Chihiro couldn't fathom why they hid, in the grocery store, inside their homes or wherever they were. Maybe it had been a long time since a traveler came to Maizuru. Maybe they knew she was staying at the inn, the haunted inn…

The whole way back to the cliff side road, Chihiro's brow was furrowed. Lost in thought, that was, until something caught her eye ahead.

Someone was walking along the trees in the forest! They were relatively close to the road. But Chihiro didn't have that eerie feeling, this wasn't the person she kept seeing randomly all throughout Maizuru. Chihiro kept driving along the road, getting closer.

Unintentionally, she started to slow down.

It was a woman.

She was simply trudging up the hill, into the trees, until she froze mid-step.

The face that looked over their shoulder toward Chihiro left the girl slamming on her breaks! Without hesitation, Chihiro ripped her keys from the transmission and threw them on the car seat.

She ran after the woman disappearing into the forest.

"Mom!" Screaming the only name she ever called that woman by, Chihiro frantically scrambled to the hill. "Mom, come back!"

The figure far ahead didn't seem to have any intentions of returning. Why was Yuuko here, how did she get here, where was she going?!

Chihiro was afraid to follow.

In all honesty, she didn't want to follow.

But her mother… she was in the country of Maizuru wandering into a forest. Nowhere near her comfy home in Osaka.

Chihiro was tempted to pull out her cell phone tucked in her jean pocket. She was going to call her dad, but was there any time for that? Yuuko was getting further away, soon out-of-sight.

"Chihiro," a ghost of a voice called out to her. Left stunned in her footing, Chihiro was visibly shaking from adrenaline. The woman far ahead, looked over her shoulder.

That face, it was undoubtingly her mother!

"M-Mom, wait for me!"

Stumbling over her own feet, Chihiro ran into the forest. But no matter how rapidly she ran Yuuko was faster. The mother turned and climbed down steep hills with elegance she never had before. Akio was always guiding her, helping Yuuko down stairs even.

'_What is going on?'_

Chihiro stopped in her tracks. Yuuko continued ahead.

Something wasn't right.

"Chihiro," the voice called out again. It only gave her chills.

"T-that's not you." Chihiro stammered, trying to keep herself from panicking. What had she just walked into?!

"Chi-"

Before the voice could call out again, Chihiro bolted! "SHUT UP!" She screamed into the air as she ran back the way she came. But with all the twists and turns Yuuko had made, Chihiro couldn't figure out which way to go.

It was as if a ghost had talked to her. Disguising itself as her mother and luring her until lost. How was that even possible?!

'_Haunted.'_

Out of everything to go through her head, Chihiro was remembering the store clerk.

'_That place is haunted.'_

Was she right?

Was Chihiro about to get eaten by a ghost from staying in the inn?! That sounded incredulous. Almost as incredulous as the book she wrote which she once believed in.

"Ngh," Chihiro groaned from her tiring limbs. She had no idea where she was running, anywhere but behind her. She climbed up an upslope she thought Yuuko stepped down from. Her eyes were plastered to the ground, until she looked up at a pair of mud covered bare feet.

"GAAAH!" Chihiro screamed and fell backward. Luckily she didn't fall back down the hill she just climbed. She cursed and winced from the pain shooting through her bottom.

Shaking with fear, Chihiro stared up at a person's back. It was a woman, with long snow-white hair, matted with mud.

Then she turned around.

Her face was as pale as the moon, her eyes an eerie golden-yellow. They downcasted on the human collapsed into a heap of fear. At first she was stoic, and then a cheeky grin blossomed out of nowhere.

"HUMAN!" The woman erupted with buoyant joy.

Chihiro's eyes bugged from her head in abhorrence. The only voice coming from her mouth was incoherent words for ghost.

"Ge' up human." Chihiro stared unmoving at her command. Her white kimono was blinding along with the rest of her. "Sorry fo' usin' ya parent as n'illusion, b'ya gotta' ge' up now."

Those words seemed to bring Chihiro back to her senses.

"W…what?" Chihiro remembered that voice. She heard that accent at Miss Okawa's inn. "That voice, I heard i-"

"If ya don' ge' up t'yōkai will eat ya dummy." The woman continued to stare down at Chihiro. Her smile was gone as she sniffed the air like an animal.

"What… What are you talking about?!" Chihiro was scrambling to her feet. She was the same height as the woman.

"Egh… t'yōkai's already 'ere, i' stinks so 'urry up!"

The ground shook with the slightest vibration. Chihiro stared down to her feet in turmoil as to what was going on. When she looked back up, the woman was gone. "Eh?"

All alone, Chihiro was left to wonder if she had gone mad.

The ground shook again, more violently this time.

Something was coming.

Chihiro wasn't about to stick around to find out what so she ran away. Her choice in direction was the opposite from where the woman was standing, therefore, she turned back to climb down the hill. Her footing was lost hence Chihiro summersaulted the rest of the way!

Curling into a ball, Chihiro hissed at her scrapped knee. "Ow…" She mumbled and glared at the bead of blood forming. The moment was cut short as the ground shook again, like a mini earthquake that lasted a mere second and returning like a heartbeat. "Mmwha," incoherent words slipped from her mouth as she struggled to get back on her feet.

"Ney, human! Thas' not t'right way."

A voice yelled after her retreating form.

"T'yōkai's t'other way, ya need t'go t' d'yōkai!"

Glancing back, Chihiro couldn't see where the voice originated from. She yelled back anyways, "You're crazy, leave me alone!"

Chihiro ran, becoming more lost and tired. She fell over her feet and whimpered from the shaking ground. It grew so intense, that all of a sudden it stopped. Chihiro, who had picked herself up from another fall, was frozen in fear. A sound not of this world was coming from behind her. When she turned around, not even her scream of horror reached her ears.

A creature with rust colored skin, half the size of a tree, stared with eyes rimmed red. Its mouth covered most of its lower face, sharp teeth bared from inside. Two horns protruded from its forehead that was almost covered by the wild gray tendrils of hair. As the yōkai came closer, its round fat belly giggled to its every move. It was incredibly fat, hence shaking the ground with every foot that stomped on the earth.

Chihiro stared for a mere second or two in shock, until she went running! Screaming the whole way, the ground under feet shook violently. The yōkai was following her! "N-N-N-NO, NO!" Chihiro shouted over and over, stopping to take gasps of air.

"Yeep!" The white woman from earlier squealed when the yōkai almost ran into her. She was following Chihiro, running alongside her. "Purify t'yōkai! Baachan says ya' can d'miko magic, Baachan needs your help so purify t'yōkai!"

She wasn't breaking a sweat, her breath wasn't hitched either. Much longer and Chihiro wouldn't be able to keep her legs moving. "I can't," Chihiro managed after a gasp of air. "Go away!"

The woman was unfazed however. "Do i', do i'! Purify em'!" She kept pointing behind them, to the Oni yōkai in hot pursuit.

"I told you I can't, just go away!" Chihiro squeezed her eyes shut as she blurted out the words. Upon opening them again, the woman was gone. Chihiro whimpered from her aching legs and burning lungs. Her throat was being becoming sore from heaving in so much air. "I… can't run." She mumbled more to herself than anyone else. "YAAAAH!"

Chihiro let loose a fierce cry when her body was sent airborne!

Her right foot stubbed against a tree root thereupon she tripped, _again. _A few blasphemous curses slipped out when her face met the dirt. The shaken earth calmed, the Oni yōkai was right behind her. Turning to face the ogre, Chihiro's heart was beating too fast to breathe properly. Her limbs were still shaking with angst.

She was going to die.

Shielding her face and pinching her eyes closed, Chihiro reacted the second the yōkai twitched.

Whispering instantaneously to the yōkai's movements, Chihiro chanted, "this isn't real, this isn't real-"

A gust of wind overcame her from the right, and the Oni screamed! Frozen still, Chihiro was awaiting a lash of pain, nothing came. Slowly lowering her arms, the girl peered from over her flesh. Her eyes widened as disbelief overtook her composure.

Someone was standing in front of her! _Protecting her._

Looking past their legs to the Oni, the yōkai was trapped inside a black bubble, paralyzed.

"Ney, go 'way River Kami!" The white woman's voice spoke up from somewhere. Chihiro followed it to a nearby tree; the woman was perched on a tree branch like a squirrel.

Having to break her gaze from the tree where the white woman was safely perched, the black bubble had popped.

At first, the Oni looked confused, like it had forgotten its whereabouts. Though the hostility hastily returned once the ogre looked Chihiro's way; the person standing protectively in front of her stood their ground defensively. Chihiro couldn't break her gaze away from the yōkai; she was waiting for it to launch an attack. The claw-like nails on the monster's hand twitched.

They twitched the same moment something in Chihiro's pocket vibrated.

A sound soon followed the vibration, echoing from her clothing. A song a little obnoxious, like a too cheerful anime opening, was coming from her phone. The Oni's eyes widened, reveling heaps of white compared to its pinpoint black pupils.

It gave another cry, gawking at Chihiro, and backing away. Eyes full of fear.

The one standing before her loosened their defensive stance.

As the Oni retreated into the forest, Chihiro's savior turned around.

_BOOooomm!_

Thunder clashed in the sky, another storm was rolling in.

Chihiro could do nothing but stare, slightly shaking. Her eyes were as wide as a doe's.

A boy stood towering over her fallen form. He was dressed formally, in a short white kimono with dark colored trousers fastened above his knees. His skin was pale, which glowed from the dark hue of his hair. It was a traditional Japanese bob. His face was almost expressionless, if anything, he looked a little weary.

A single raindrop landed on Chihiro's face as she looked up at the person. She flinched.

Then he crouched down to her level, "don't be afraid," he said. It wasn't the first time he told her that.

Chihiro had been in denial for so long.

She told herself it was all a dream so it didn't hurt as much, knowing everything was gone. The little shrines, the creepy statues and the clock tower.

She lied to herself to keep the feelings away.

But what about now?

Someone from her dream was standing _right in front of her._ Her head was swirling.

_Because it wasn't a dream._

The part of her that believed was singing inside her. Rejoicing at the sight of Haku.

His hand was placed atop her shoulder, confirming he wasn't just an apparition. She shook from under his touch.

It was too much. The memories that came flooding back on top of what had happened today. _It was all too much. _

Like a balloon, her head popped and Chihiro fell unconscious.

**Author's Note:**

**Oni - A kind of yōkai from Japanese folklore, variously translated as demons, devils, ogres or trolls.**


	4. 〜Haunted〜

**Chapter IV**

**〜****Haunted****〜**

The pitter-patter of the rain woke Chihiro from her comfortable slumber. Warmth was spread all throughout her body that was tucked underneath a blanket. Without stretching or yawning, Chihiro opened her eyes and stared at the caliginous ceiling.

It was already night.

Chihiro felt like she was hung over. She had only gotten drunk two times before, but right now she felt like she had been drinking, _a lot._ Her head was swimming and she couldn't remember how she ended up in bed.

Looking around, she was in her room at Miss Okawa's inn, resting on the futon.

Just where she had left it the night prior, her yellow raincoat was sprawled on the tatami mat adjacent to her.

That's when Chihiro noticed she was still wearing her clothes from going out to the grocery store.

"There is no fixing this Naoko."

Before Chihiro had the chance to freak out, she heard a male voice from outside her rice paper sliding door. Slowly sitting up, Chihiro stared blankly at the oil lamp lit next to her futon. Trying to keep calm she listened to the voices.

Chihiro remembered everything.

The grocery trip, her mother, the white woman, the yōkai… and Haku.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Chihiro's head was spinning even more now.

"Aye jus' wanted 'er t'purify d'yōkai so Baachan don' have t'work s'hard." It was that woman's voice, the crazy one who was all white. "Aye was real scared when d'girl stopped movin', thinkin' she was dead! D'River Kami pick'ed her up n'started walkin' off t'somewhere. Aye told em' t'come back 'ere, where i' safe."

Chihiro's heart skipped a beat in anticipation. They were talking about her.

"She has _seen _you and you deliberately put her in danger!" The boy sounded really mad.

"S'top yellin' at meh Gin!"

"When Misao comes back, I will leave this matter up to her. Now get out of my sight."

Chihiro flinched from his loud voice and harsh tone.

"Gin!"

Footfalls echoed on the wood paneled flooring in the hallway.

"GO!"

Said boy shouted in ire. Chihiro flinched again.

"Keep your voices down, you'll scare Chihiro."

A third member joined the party outside her bedroom door. Chihiro's heartbeat quickened.

"Tch, just who are you, River Kami?" The boy asked from outside the door.

Chihiro listened as footfalls approached the fusuma. She grabbed the blanket over her body and clutched it up against her chest, pinning herself against the furthest wall.

"I am Chihiro's friend."

With a racing heartbeat and shaky limbs, Chihiro blinked as the fusuma slid open. Haku stood in the entryway with two faces peering in behind him. Chihiro noticed he was holding a cup.

"Eh, she's wake." The white woman said nonchalantly.

Beside her was a boy shorter than Haku. His hair wasn't near as white as the woman's, his hair was silver. The two white toned people both had eerie colored eyes that shined luminously, inhumanly.

Then the boy scowled.

"This is too much trouble for Misao…" He said before storming off.

The woman, who was still standing in the hall despite being told to leave earlier, leered at Chihiro. Her lips curled into a grin that made her look psycho.

"Nao!" The boy called from down the hall. The woman continued to stare at Chihiro. "Leave them be."

After that, she broke her gaze and swiftly turned to walk down the hall. Now out of sight.

Haku stood in front of Chihiro, he held out a cup filled with water. Chihiro's throat felt a little scratchy, so she gladly accepted. He watched her while she drank from the cup, her eyes closed.

Upon opening them, she stared up at Haku, waiting for him to say something. He didn't seem willing to speak so Chihiro continued to drink from her cup, taking in the sight of him.

Haku had grown, but he held an innocent vibe of a teenager. If Chihiro had to guess how old Haku was, she would say around 18 years old, two years younger than herself. But… _he sure was tall_. The serious look on his face and composed composure made him look and seem a lot more mature and older. He had the same haircut, ending mid neck, same pale skin, and same style of clothes. He looked relatively young besides his height, but for all Chihiro knew, Haku was probably centuries years old.

Haku had changed, yet he was the same.

He was still staring at her.

"Um… Haku?" Chihiro asked in an almost whisper.

Then he blinked, Haku seemed to never blink.

"Is that really you?" She asked, almost fearful.

Haku stood unresponsive for a moment before softening his gaze. "Yes."

Chihiro clenched her cup. She wanted to reach out and touch him, to feel for herself that she hadn't gone mad.

No words were said for almost a minute. "I have been looking for you, for a long time." Haku broke the silence with his confession.

Chihiro's eyes widened and almost spilled the remains of her drink all over herself.

"What?" She choked out. "Looking for me?"

His answer left more questions than anything else. "Yes… I often lose track of time, so I can't say for sure how long I have been searching."

Chihiro almost stood up from disbelief. "Why?" Her voice pitched by a few decibels. "Why… What happened to you?"

Haku, who had been staring at her the whole time, averted his gaze away. "I was finally able to see you… When you returned to your world, I stopped being Yubaba's apprentice like I had said I would. I was free, nothing binding me in one place."

His eyes seemed to almost sparkle from the reminiscence. Chihiro was so glad he didn't have to work under Yubaba's harsh authority anymore.

"I wondered around aimlessly for almost a year. I flew to the stars I could never reach and then back down to explore the land. I had no home, nowhere I was safe, I had to survive on my own."

Picturing Haku wandering around aimlessly, made Chihiro feel a little sad. It was true though, where else would he live if not at the Bathhouse. His taste of true freedom brought on reality just as hard.

Haku looked out the window next to Chihiro, though it was almost too dark to see anything. Chihiro felt a seed of anxiety pit itself into her stomach as she listened intently to what Haku was telling her.

"Yubaba was a cruel woman, but that Bathhouse was the closest thing I had to a home. I had forgotten that. So I returned for the second time to seek refuge. I wouldn't make the same mistake as to forget my name." His gaze landed on Chihiro.

She took that moment to butt in, "how is everyone doing? At the Bathhouse I mean."

The look she received in silent response gave her a chill; the nostalgic smile creeping across her face scurried away.

"I was never given the chance to return to the Bathhouse." Haku uttered as if it pained him to say it. Chihiro's eyes widened and heart faltered. "The Bathhouse along with everything nearby was gone. The building was destroyed with nothing left but rubble, the same goes for the town. The entrance to the human world was open, instead of the ocean it was the valley. There was nothing but barren dirt and trees set aflame left of the valley. The red tower you passed through was gone. I don't know if anyone survived…"

A mix of anger and distress contorted Haku's face. His hands balled into fists, almost shaking with rage.

Chihiro nearly lost herself. She was struck with remorse, anger and guilt. Those people, _her people,_ the ones who destroyed the forest below her blue house, had to of caused everything! They didn't realize what they had done, what they destroyed was reflected in the Spirit World. The red tower, the village full of restaurants, the entire Bathhouse… was gone. Demolished, burned and struck down like the things below her house in Osaka. The people she used to know from that world were probably dead… Chihiro found that hard to grasp.

And all because of her people.

Chihiro didn't realize she was crying until now. Haku was kneeled down in front of her.

"I-I'm sorry…" She apologized for what those people had done. "I tried to stop them…" She wiped her tears away and leaned into Haku's hand over her shoulder. She was rambling, knowing Haku wasn't sure what she was talking about.

"Don't apologize; it is not your fault." His voice was firm, resolute. Chihiro stared into his eyes that reflected all of his hardships.

That's when Chihiro cried even more.

Haku had lost his home twice now to humans.

Yet, he was calm, composed and resilient.

"My community cut down the forest, destroyed the red tower and everything else to build more houses. Haku… If I had known what they were doing affected the Bathhouse like that, I would have done everything I could to stop them!"

That's when Haku shushed her.

"You wouldn't have been able to stop them Chihiro. Besides, Yubaba is a strong like many others there. I know they are alive and well." Despite his calm and collected tone, Haku had steely eyes. They resembled glass. "I would have stayed to look for survivors if not for the havoc kami were provoking. They were becoming… corrupted."

Chihiro furrowed her brows with lips parted. "Corrupted..?" The word itself sounded dirty.

"Yes," Haku paused before explaining more. "Kami become corrupted when they suffer from strain caused by the happenings in the human world. Such as pollution."

As soon as he said pollution, Chihiro remembered the stink spirit she cared for while working in the Bathhouse. It turned out; the Stink Spirit was actually a rich and powerful River Kami that had become polluted. Going to the baths to purify itself.

"My river in the human world was simply taken away, not polluted, so I wasn't corrupted; only lost." Kamaji once told Chihiro that Haku came to the Bathhouse to seek refuge, instead of wandering around like a homeless kami as he were now.

Chihiro swallowed thickly.

"While searching for you, I wandered around the spirit world, trying to cleanse all the corrupted kami from the destruction in the human world." Tears were almost in Chihiro's eyes, yet as Haku kept talking, he was calm. "There are more and more lately, yōkai and kami alike are becoming tainted. The humans aren't taking care of my kind anymore."

Haku's eyes glistened and looked downward to the floor. Chihiro almost reached out for him, to console him, but restrained herself.

"That's not true, not all humans have stopped caring about kami." Squeezing the cup in her hand, Chihiro was full of determination. To right all the wrongs made by humankind.

"I know, Chihiro." Haku looked up at Chihiro with a softened expression, one that reminded her of his old twelve year old self. Chihiro smiled weakly, her limbs were shaking a little from the news of the Bathhouse. It was hard to sink in, the realization that it was all gone, just as gone as the forest and red tower that Chihiro could see in her world.

Feeling herself become lost in Haku's overpowering aura of maturity, Chihiro made sure not to forget her biggest wonder. "Why would you go through so much trouble trying to find me after all that happened?"

The hand on her shoulder slid back to its owner. Chihiro held her gaze fixated on Haku. "I had promised you we would meet again, but I could not find you." Chihiro's heart fluttered from his loyalty. "I couldn't sense your presense anywhere, not even Zeniba could find you. I realized how much time I spent searching, I feared that I had kept you waiting for too long and spent too much time meddling with the corrupted-"

Chihiro cut him off.

"You didn't need to worry about someone like me; there are much more important things to be taken care of."

Haku didn't seem fazed by her words, if anything his stoic face was a little angry.

"I wasn't going to break my promise. I knew if I kept you waiting much longer, you would be too old to remember me."

Chihiro was taken aback by his words. Was Haku referring to his spirituality vs. her humanity? Their lifespan difference?

"How long has it been, since I last saw you?" Chihiro wanted to know. She had a feeling Haku's answer would be far different from her own.

"If I count every winter, it has been 5 years."

Chihiro shrank back. "It's been 10 years since I saw you, 11 this summer."

Their worlds were indeed different. Time was slower for Haku. He wasn't human after all, but a spirit. The way he came into this world, the way he ages, almost everything about him was different from Chihiro. Meanwhile, she was sinking further into guilt. Haku worried about her growing old and forgetting him, but in reality that had already happened.

"I'm sorry… but I forgot, a long time ago."

It sounded harsh at first, but that was the apology Chihiro needed to let out. The truth.

Haku backed away, his eyes staring bright.

Chihiro was about to cry again but held it back.

"Maybe if I hadn't forgotten, you would've been able to find me… Maybe we could have been together for years by now. You wouldn't have been all alone, looking for someone like me who forgot about you. Maybe if I remembered…" Chihiro lost her voice in her tears. Haku's hand returned to her shoulder, he never went so far as to hug her. His actions were innocent and chaste.

"It is not because you forgot me I could not find you." Haku's voice was louder than Chihiro's sniffling. She rubbed her face and cuddled deeper under her blanket, still holding onto the cup. She looked up at Haku and felt like she was 10 years old again. "I found my way to you a few days ago. You were in a blue house. I felt magic surrounding you, which lured me toward you. That same magic lingers in this place. I realized it was Zeniba's magic, did she give you something from my world?"

Taken aback, Chihiro stared at Haku like a ghost. "Y-yea. A hair tie, Zeniba made me a hair tie."

Haku looked downward and smiled only slightly. "Her magic was woven into that hair tie."

Chihiro had no idea where that hair tie was… She felt horrible.

"I-I lost it, when I came here, I lost it."

Haku could sense the remorse coming off Chihiro. He squeezed her shoulder.

"If you weren't wearing that hair tie, I don't think I would have been able to find you at all. Or follow you here."

Chihiro couldn't help but smile, she knew there was a purpose to that hair tie Zeniba made for her. It ended up protecting her after all; Haku found her and saved her from the yōkai.

"We'll find it tomorrow." Haku encouraged her.

Chihiro nodded.

"What're you gonna' do now Haku?" It felt strange asking that, but Chihiro wanted –_needed _to know.

Still kneeling down on the tatami mat beside her futon, Haku stared at her with his usual impassive expression. "I will stay by your side for as long as I can. There is no place else I must be."

A pang of guilt struck her in the core. Chihiro tried to ignore the fact that Haku was a wandering, homeless kami.

"What about the spirit world, don't you want to go back?"

Looking up at Haku through her lashes, Chihiro asked in a hushed voice. If Haku planned to go back and forth between worlds… days, weeks, months, even years could pass by before Haku returned. Human time passed by in a blink of an eye to kami. It was unfair.

For some reason Chihiro felt like Haku was about to leave and she was right.

Haku stood up and looked down at Chihiro. "I'll leave you to sleep. It's already late."

Chihiro blurted out before she realized it, "where are you going to go?"

Almost turned away, Haku looked over to Chihiro. "Outside."

Dumbfounded, Chihiro thought about what he just said. "What… do you sleep out there?"

Haku didn't hesitate. "Yes."

"Stop that!"

Chihiro blurted out before standing on her feet. She almost lost her balance but didn't fall since she reached out for Haku. He faced her, having to look down at her face and fell still. Chihiro grabbed onto his wrists.

"Don't sleep out there, it's dangerous!"

"Chihiro…" Haku tried to defend himself.

"No, please don't." Chihiro was pleading. But in the end, she wouldn't be able to stop him from going. "Y-you can stay here in this room, just stop sleeping outside."

It hadn't occurred to Chihiro that Haku might have been sleeping outside for years, since he left the Bathhouse. She couldn't bare that thought.

"That's not proper."

Chihiro let go of his wrists and stared up at his half lidded eyes, his lashes standing out luminously.

"You don't have to sleep next to me. I'll go find some extra bedding, so will you please?"

Chihiro pursed her lips shut and stared up at Haku's contemplating face. "Okay."

A smile instantly took over her lips. "I'll be right back!"

Scrambling to her futon, Chihiro groaned at the spilled cup of water. She picked up the cup and Haku watched as she ran all over the bedroom. She was grabbing a lot of stuff, like clothes from a box and some other random things. Eventually he was left all by himself as she went out into the hall.

. . .

Walking to the stairs, Chihiro clutched her belongings plus cup in her arms. The first place she went to was the restroom. While she was in there, she grabbed a lot of towels for the spill in her room and did some basic hygienic procedures. She would bathe later, after Haku was settled in. For now, she changed her clothes into a loose tank top and fabric shorts.

Putting more toiletries into the same drawer in the bathroom, Chihiro walked out toward the front counter. She needed more bedding but wasn't sure where to find any…

Then it struck her… the groceries!

Panicking, Chihiro rushed into the kitchen and over to the fridge. The kitchen was probably the only room in the inn that used the most electricity. She felt rude going through the pantry and refrigerator, but she would feel worse if all those groceries spoiled.

"Ney, human, t'food's fine."

Squealing, Chihiro spun around to see the white woman from before. She looked calm, or bored.

"Oh, um… sorry for intruding. I was worried." Chihiro didn't really know what to say to this person… or yōkai. Either way, she definitely wasn't human.

The girl blinked, her thick white eyelashes becoming noticeable.

"Call meh Naoko, r'Nao."

"Naoko." Chihiro said the name out loud.

Naoko slightly smiled. "Wha's ya name?"

"Um, Ch-Chihiro… Chihiro Ogino."

Moving from the far wall, Naoko walked closer to Chihiro. "Tother boy was meh brother. Gin, e' can b'annoying."

"Oh, is that so..?" Chihiro recalled all the shouting and the glares from the silver haired boy. Changing the subject Chihiro blurted out, "um, where is Miss Okawa? I'm actually looking for some extra bedding?"

Naoko cocked her head; a strand of her long, clean, white hair fell in her face. "Baachan? Baachan left t'purify d'yōkai, since ya couldn't. Ya betta' learn fast ya hear? Baachan t'old t'keep purifying d'yōkai-"

"I-I'm sorry but I don't know what you mean." Chihiro raised her hands defensively. Naoko's languid face was contorting into a scowl that didn't suit her complexion.

"Hmph, ya need bedding f' d'River Kami eh?" Naoko asked as she calmed herself down. Chihiro nodded. "D'closet s'over there."

Naoko pointed toward the entrance.

Chihiro said her thanks, placed the cup form earlier in the sink, and turned to leave.

"Gin don' like ya r' d'River Kami, b'Baachan says ya both c'stay here. Aye thinks Baachan likes ya."

Chihiro wasn't sure what to say. Luckily, Naoko turned and left toward the dining room. Basically, if Miss Okawa didn't like Chihiro, she would kick both her and Haku outside. Chihiro swallowed nervously. She wouldn't know what to do with herself let alone Haku. She had no plans other than staying here, maybe one day she would leave for another town. When that day came, would Haku follow her? She wondered how long he would stay by her side.

Distracting herself from her thoughts, Chihiro set down the pile of clothes and towels she was still holding. The closet Naoko mentioned was around the corner from the check-in counter, Chihiro opened it up and found a rolled up futon.

She realized it would be a struggle to carry everything upstairs…

Despite that, Chihiro wobbled up the steps carrying her clothes, towels, a blanket, pillow and futon underneath her arms. By time she reached her bedroom, Chihiro's limbs were shaking from strain.

Even though it was disrespectful, Chihiro used her foot to slide open the fusuma sliding door. Standing by the window being pelted with rain, was Haku. His tall figure stood like a statue, Chihiro took a guess that he was near 6 feet tall, way above average. He stood out like an overgrown weed in a garden.

Realizing she was just standing there, Chihiro walked into the room. Haku turned away from the window and averted his attention to Chihiro. Walking over to her futon she plopped everything in her arms down on the mat. First, she put the few towels over the water spill and stepped over the towels until it was all soaked up. She wasn't sure what to with them after that and just threw them over to her cardboard box. There, they would at least air dry. After that, she picked out all of her dirty clothes consisting of: socks, underwear, shirt and jeans, and put them in a pile next to her box.

The oil lamp and other random things next to her bed were moved to the small table. Chihiro grabbed Haku's futon and rolled it out like a new rug. From the look of it, the bedding was newly washed and clean just like everything in the inn seemed to always be. Placing his pillow at the top, touching the wall, last was the blanket. Chihiro grabbed the corners and fluffed it up to let it all fall gently against the futon.

Smiling, Chihiro plopped down on her own futon. "All finished," she announced.

Haku looked down at his bed Chihiro had just made and frowned.

Looking at whatever he was frowning at; Chihiro saw that she placed his bedding exactly next to her own, creating one big futon. With a chuckle, Chihiro used her feet to scoot the mat approximately a foot from her own. "Sorry," Chihiro smiled.

Haku took an elegant step on the mat and crouched down until sitting. Chihiro idly watched him through the entire process. Still sinking in the fact he was there in front of her.

Catching her stare, Haku glanced over at Chihiro who blinked. "Are you hungry?" He asked.

"What," Chihiro responded with on impulse. "No. Are you?"

"No." Was his bland answer.

Chihiro frowned, Haku seemed really stiff. Maybe he wasn't comfortable sleeping near her? Thinking about the Bathhouse, the sexes were separate when it came to sleeping accommodations. Had Haku never slept near a girl before? That was nonsense.

Tomorrow, Chihiro would ask Miss Okawa for Haku to have his own room.

She would gladly pay if she had to.

"Haku, I think I'm going to take a bath soon." Chihiro announced. "Will you be alright by yourself? Is there anything you need?"

She felt like she was talking to a kid.

But Haku wasn't a kid anymore.

"No, I'll be fine."

Chihiro stared, unsatisfied. "Did you want to take a bath too?"

His eyes rolled over to look at her, Chihiro felt her insides shrink back as if he was menacingly glaring at her. "I don't need to."

Sighing, Chihiro wanted to leave him alone for a bit, give him time to relax. Haku seemed more of a wreck than Chihiro, who simply chose to put all her troubles aside for later. She would break-out if she let everything get to her at once.

Standing up and grabbing the wet towels, Chihiro thought she might as well find a proper place to put them. Maybe a laundry room… if there was one. Chihiro had no clue. She would need a towel for her bath anyways.

. . .

Chihiro was in one of the small private bathrooms. She sat on the stool washing her hair and body for a while. It felt good. The pipes that filled the bathtub clanged and vibrated as water filled the tub.

Eventually, steam filled the room to the brim.

Chihiro sat in the water for so long, she almost fell asleep. _No, _she_ did_ fall asleep.

It wasn't until someone knocked on the wooden frame to the sliding door that Chihiro jolted awake. The water splashed to her sudden spasm.

"Chihiro?"

It was Haku.

Had he come looking for her?

"Oh… Uh, sorry I fell asleep!" Chihiro called out to him. Maybe he was just worried? Before he could criticize her, Chihiro assured him, "I'll be right up."

The presence outside the sliding door lingered as Chihiro stood up in the tub. The water slid down her figure and splashed to her languid movements. Chihiro stepped onto the tiles and reached for the towel she hung up.

Staring at the sliding door, Chihiro paused. She watched as the figure looming outside the door finally walked away.

Blinking, she ruffled her hair until it seemed dry. Her scalp was hurting from rubbing her head for so long and so she stopped. Drying off her body, Chihiro slid back into her undergarments and night clothes.

Before going upstairs, Chihiro placed her towel in the same basket as all the other dirty ones.

Then she went back to her room.

Quietly going inside, Chihiro was surprised to find Haku already lying down. He was facing the wall with the window, toward Chihiro's futon, already underneath the blanket.

Chihiro thought he might be asleep.

Stealthily walking over to the little table, Chihiro's heartbeat quickened.

For some reason, she felt more nervous. She didn't want to wake Haku. Once at the table just next to his futon, Chihiro blew out the oil lamp and headed over to her own futon.

Her stealth was all in vain when he spoke up, "Chihiro."

"Eh?" She paused mid-step and looked down to Haku who she could barely see. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness.

"Your hair is wet."

After all that drying, it was still damp. But Chihiro always slept with wet hair so it wasn't that big a deal. "It'll be okay." Chihiro crouched down to sit on her mat. She fumbled with her blanket.

"You will catch a cold."

Chihiro looked over at Haku whose right side of his face was pressed against his pillow. He looked as expressionless as ever. Nothing like how he acted when his name was returned to him. Full of life and smiling.

Chihiro didn't blame him. Everyone he knew, the place he called home, was all gone.

"It'll dry quickly." Draping the blanket over her body, Chihiro stared up at the ceiling. She felt like curling up in a ball and wallowing in her own body heat, but resisted the urge.

Haku's presence next to her seemed to keep her restless. Everything that happened today seemed to keep her from sleeping.

Rolling onto her left side, Chihiro blinked until her eyes focused on the person next to her.

Haku was in the same position. His eyes seemingly closed. The only sound was the soft pitter-patter of the rain outside.

"Are you asleep?" She asked in a whisper.

"No, Chihiro."

She didn't see his mouth move; maybe it was just too dark or he was mumbling.

"I… missed you."

It felt wrong to say that after she had forgotten all about him, like she didn't deserve to miss him. But she was still doubting his existence, as if he was an apparition. The faces she would never see again. Rin, Yubaba, Bou, Kamaji, were they all dead? Would she ever see Zeniba or No Face again? She wanted to tell Haku while he was still there, whether imagination or not, Chihiro wanted to tell him that she missed him.

It was a miracle enough that Haku was there now.

To save and remind her what she was doubting, the reality of her bestseller. That the spirit world does exist, everyone she wrote.

Even though she wasn't looking at him, Chihiro felt Haku looking at her.

"I missed you as well."

Chihiro got butterflies and smiled. She missed everyone and wanted to see them one day, now knowing that probably wasn't possible. Yet, one person from her book was here to see her. Did he have anyone else in the spirit world? How long was he alone? If Haku never quit his apprenticeship would he have been caught up in the Bathhouse being destroyed too?

Chihiro didn't have to think about that anymore once Haku spoke up again.

"Thank you, Chihiro."

Blinking to the darkness, Chihiro didn't say anything back. Why was he thanking her? For getting him a bed? For missing him? She felt a little like a mom trying to take care of a kid that happened to be an ignorant kami in the human world. Would she be the one guiding him like he had done for her in his own world?

Already it seemed Haku would still be protecting Chihiro, he already had so far.

"You don't have to thank me." Chihiro didn't have to talk loudly, so she was almost whispering. Instead of awaiting some sort of response, she spoke up again. "Good night." She bade.

"Good night."

Haku spoke just as softly. Chihiro smiled, still sinking in the realization that he was there after so many years. Not shortly after, Chihiro fell asleep lying on her side, facing Haku who also fell asleep just as fast.


End file.
